Parisian Perfection
by irishwerewolf
Summary: Four years after the Tucks leave Treegap, Winnie still hasn't made up her mind: live or die eventually? Her parents suprise her with tickets to Paris for her and a chaparone they paid to meet her there. But who is this mysterious stranger and will they influence her decision?
1. Chapter 1: Tricky Little Tickets

**Hello! I hope you like my story as this is the first one I've done for Tuck Everlasting. So here goes nothing...I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tuck Everlasting nor am I Natalie Babbit.**

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Rain drops spilled from the sky and landed with a loud pattering on the roof. I sat in my room reading when I heard the rhythmic tune of rain falling on the house. I let out a deep sigh and put Pride and Prejudice back on the shelf. I looked out the window, resting my head against it. The grass was a lush green for early spring and my mother's flowers were just beginning to grow back after the short winter. The trees were sprouting their new leaves. The sky was crowded with wispy gray rain clouds showering the town and surrounding forest.

I began thinking about the events of that summer long ago. Thinking about how everything out there was living. Plants, animals, people, stories, ideas...and it all would eventually die. That is except the Tucks. It seemed so long ago, but time passes quickly in a big world. Hours turn into days and days turn into weeks and before you know it a year has come and gone without so much as batting an eyelash. Four years had passed since they left Treegap. And still I was here waiting for them- for him. My window fogged up, obstructing my view. Instead of just wiping it off, I began to lazily draw.

"WINNIE!" my mother hollered from downstairs. "Are you going to keep lounging around in your room or are you going to come down here and celebrate your birthday with us?"

I reluctantly left my seat and my window pane drawing of the tree. Nobody knew about the tree but the Tucks and I, and I intended to keep it that way.

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"...Happy birthday dear Winnifred. Happy birthday to you!" my parents sang to me before I blew the candles out. I thought of my wish and gave a huff as the flames went out. My family cheered.

"What did you wish for, Winnie?" my father inquired. I give him a small smile.

"Well I would tell you, but then it wouldn't come true. Now would it?" He begins to comment, but gets cut off by Mother ushering us into the parlor for presents. I sit on the plush corduroy couch. In front of me sat a large pile of presents, lavishly wrapped and stylishly decorated with bows, ribbons and papers of all colors.

"Alright now, this one's from your Uncle Stanley." A croquet set. Fun!

"This is from Aunt Clara." Oh, the new perfume from France she was raving about last month.

"This is from Nanny Cooper." Yarn and knitting needles, interesting choice.

"And last but not least this is from us." Mother hands me an envelope with my name beautifully written on. My parents smile down at me as I tear the package open. Out fall three pieces of paper. I pick the papers up and stare down at them. I slowly turn them over and my jaw drops to the floor. My parents' smiles could not have been brighter as I abruptly stood up and gave them what probably would be the biggest, warmest hug I will ever give them which they happily returned. In my hands I held three tickets for a ship to France.

"Really!?"

"Yes. Your father and I decided it was high time you saw the world beyond Treegap. We had been planning a holiday to visit family and see all that there is to see and thought you should have the opporitunity to go as well."

"Thank you so much!"

"But umm...there is one thing. You won't be with us per say," my father sheepishly admited.

"I don't understand."

"Well, your father and I want to see family for most of the vacation and thought you'd like to see the city and the popular sites as well. So, your father hired a travel guide to go with you to Paris."

Everything stopped around me. The guests milling about chatting and laughing, the clock chiming somewhere off in the house, even the rain outside stopped pouring. We were going to France and I'd be on my own with a stranger? How could they do this to me?

"So I'm going to be on my own in Paris with a stranger?"

"No darling, not at all!" Mother exclaimed, shocked that I would even think that.

"He's a friend of the family and is a highly renowned guide when it comes to Paris. I met up with him last week and he said he was headed to Paris. So I asked him if he wouldn't mind spending a holiday with you and he said he'd be delighted to! He'll meet us when we dock in Paris," Father explained, attempting to ease my worries.

I gave a sigh. I needed to think this through when the party was over. I looked at my parents. Seeing that they were expecting an answer of some sort, I asked them, "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, ten o'clock sharp," Father replied. I nodded, got up and tried to enjoy the rest of my party.

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**So, thoughts? Horrible? Brilliant? Incredibly amazing or stupid? PLEASE review! Thank you and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)**


	2. Chapter 2: The Midnight Visitor

**So, seeing as I received a delightful turnout on my first chapter, I decided it was high time I updated this chapter. I hope you like this one as well :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tuck Everlasting nor am I Natalie Babbit. **

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Hours after her party finished, Winnie Foster was still awake. She moved silently around her room, transferring clothing from her dresser and closet into a small chest that'd be coming to Paris with her in the morning and another larger crate that would remain with her parents until they met up later on. She removed her petticoats and lightest dresses from the closet, folding them meticulously as if they would fall apart if she didn't do it right. Boots and socks, hats and veils, pinafores and splendid evening gowns all packed together like she was leaving home forever.

She would have gone to sleep ages ago if she hadn't been so nervous and excited. Questions swam around her mind, making it hard to even consider going to sleep yet. Who was the stranger her parents arranged to guide her around Paris? What was it like in the City of Lights? Was it as magical as Jesse described to her? Winnie stopped packing for a moment and thought about him. She missed Jesse so much, her heart seemed like it stopped from the overwhelming pain. He promised that he'd come back, but he hadn't. Was it time to give up on him and move on? She shook her head and knew that she couldn't decide.

Downstairs, the grandfather clock chimed in it's deep, melancholy tones alerting the household that midnight was upon them. In the walls, the mice scampered about gathering crumbs for their breakfast. In the master bedroom, Mr. and Mrs. Foster slept on, not stirring as the new day made itself known. Alone in her bedroom, Winnie jumped, the old clock's ringing scaring her. She laid a hand over her heart, trying to bring her pulse back down. She laughed quietly to herself thinking of how silly it was to be scared by the silly antique.

Winnie tried to stifle a yawn, failing miserably. She rubbed her tired eyes, shooting a longing look at her bed wondering when she'd go to bed. She looked back at her half empty dresser and closet and decided that she deserved a well deserved break. The house, dead in sleep as it was, stirred a bit when the youngest Foster delicately opened her door and slipped in the the darkness. She turned around the corner and stepped over a trick plank of wood that would wake the house in seconds.

She paused, squinting in the midnight blackness, as she tried to get her bearings. She could make out the form of the staircase in front of her. Not the servants'...that would be a dead giveaway. No, miraculously, it was the grand staircase that led straight to the front door and beyond. She made sure she was still walking on the carpeted bits of the hall when she reached the stairs. Step by step, she winced, hoping that the worst wouldn't happen and the house would stay asleep. The cold marble beneath the rug was muffled and couldn't share her escape with the masters. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, Winnie smiled, mentally applauding herself for making it this far without so much as a whisper or groaning step. Then she sobered up, knowing she still had to make it to the door and the world beyond.

Sneakily, she glided over to the entrance. She made sure the door was unlocked and that she had the back up key in, knowing fully well what would happen if she was caught sneaking out. She winced, remembering how she had been berated and was watched every waking moment after that fateful night when she accidentally locked herself out. This time, she was more careful and planned just to slip out front for some fresh air before returning to her room to finish packing. She gave the handle a quick jiggle, testing it would let her back in. She surveyed the house one last time before slipping into the moonlit night.

Outside, she smiled and jumped up and down excited she had done it. Far off, an owl hooted and crickets chirped in a melody so enchanting, Winnie couldn't help but be whisked back to that brilliant night with Jesse by the campfire. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to remember.

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_The fire danced and flared to the rhythm as Jesse tapped to the owl's hooting. The light bounced off the rocks and lit up the night. Winnie's hair was let loose and seemed to dance with her. In the light of the fire, she looked like a princess Jesse concluded. Her normally brunette hair was now as bright as copper and her smile was as beautiful as any of the stars in the night sky above. Her deep brown eyes, sparkled in the light. Jesse, who normally had that rugged, back home-woods look about him, now seemed as handsome as any fair maiden could ever ask for. His blue eyes gleamed with happiness- something he could never get enough of. His light brown hair seemed to shine like gold in the fire light. Everything else faded away. In that moment, all his flaws slunk back to be hidden by the shadows far beyond the happy duo. The dirt stuck between his toes, the torn bits of clothes, the huge age gap...they all melted away in the firelight. It seemed like nothing bad could happen as long as that moment never ended._

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Then the owl hooted again, and Winnie was back in the real world. The campfire faded and Jesse with it. She was alone again...well, almost alone. Standing outside the gate, a man lounged against the brick posts, his face shrouded by darkness. Not a man wearing a cheery yellow suit, but a man in a black cape, bowling hat casually draped over his right eye.

"Hello?" Winnie called out to the figure. She took small steps forward, wary of the mysterious figure. "Who are you?" The man said nothing in reply. He just stood there, silent as the moon itself. Winnie kept walking over to the man, slightly afraid of him, but she let her curiosity get the better of her. She kept on course until she reached the fence, where he stood, stiff and silent as a scarecrow.

"Ms. Foster, I presume?" the man asked her. His voice sounded familiar, but she shouldn't quite place it. Who was he?

"Yes?"

"This is for you," he said. He pulled a package out of a satchel that hung from his shoulder.

"Who's it from?" she inquired, hoping that if she heard him speak more that she could figure out whose voice it was.

"Gee. Take a wild guess Foster," the man drawled. Winnie knitted her eyebrows together, faintly recollecting the last time she heard that voice. Wasn't it four years ago she heard him saying goodbye in the rain? Realization spread across her face before she jumped on the stranger, knocking his hat back.

"MILES!" she near about shouted. She grinned from ear to ear. Never before had she been so happy to see the depressed immortal.

"Keep it quiet girly! Don't wanna wake your folks now do ya?" he spat sarcastically.

"Where in the world have you been?" she asked hastily. She wanted to know. She knew that if Miles was here, the rest of the Tucks couldn't be that far behind.

"England and Italy mostly," he answered nonchalantly. "And before you can ask, no he's not here." Winnie's smile evaporated into thin air when those words were spoken. Miles gave her a smile, and added as an afterthought, "Open the package." Winnie shot him a questioning look before tearing at the cardboard exterior. She made several large gashes in the package before she saw what was inside: a letter addressed to her from Paris and two books.

"What are these?" she asked Miles.

"It's all Jesse's." A tear glistened in Winnie's eye as she let Miles explain. "The hard back book is a guide to Paris, written by him. The leather one is his journal from the first day you two were separated, four years ago, to last week when we had to get ready to leave and wouldn't have anymore time to write in it, and the letter's from yesterday."

"Yesterday!?" Winnie exclaimed.

"Yeah, he's leaving for Europe in the mornin' and had to get there early considering he was gonna hitch a ride." Winnie's eyes went wide with shock and her eyes started to glisten with unshed tears, threatening to spill over. Miles frowned.

"Winnie? Look I may not approve of your relationship with him, but I do know this: he still loves you and probably always will. Also, it's way past midnight and I'm sure you don't want to be tired when the sun rises." Winnie nodded and turned to head back towards the house, when Miles grabbed her wrist. "I wasn't done yet!" She smiled a bit and turned back to the war veteran.

"Just..." Miles tried to figure out how to say what he was thinking about,"Just don't let anybody get their hands on the letter or the journal. I can only imagine what's written in them, but just in case, please keep them safe. Alright?" Winnie nodded at him, before wrapping her arms around him.

"Thanks, Miles!" she said into his toned torso. Miles, bewildered as to why the young lady was hugging him, slowly returned it. "Tell Jesse that I miss him next time you see him okay?"

"Wait! You're headed to Paris 'morrow right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"Pa. He knew how Jesse felt 'bout ya, and just to make sure that he could eventually get back to you, Pa decided he'd keep tabs on you. Anyways, you might run into Jesse while you're there. I heard he got an offer to guide a friend of Ma's around the city for a while. So long, Winnie Foster!" he said, letting the young lady free of his hug.

"Wait, Miles!" she called after him, but he was already gone. What did he mean that Jesse got a job as a tour guide? Winnie, more perplexed than ever, clutched her package to her chest and turned back to the house. She slowly opened the door and slunk back upstairs to finish packing. Once back in her safe haven, she craftily hid the journal and the guide book in a petticoat in her trunk, leaving the letter out.

She sat on her bed, staring at it for a while like it was a bomb. Her name was beautifully scrawled on the envelope, just waiting to be read. She itched to find out what he said, but at the same time knew that it could change everything. Winnie blinked several times before yawning and realized that if she opened it now, she could fall asleep reading it and her mother would have a field day when she saw her daughter with what seemed like a letter from a potential suitor. Reluctantly, Winnie got up and stowed the letter with the other things Jesse had sent her, packing the rest of her clothes on top. She shut the trunk's lid as quietly as possible, before turning her lamp off and falling to sleep thinking of Paris and the possibility of seeing Jesse again.

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**So? What'd you guys think? I know it's considerably longer than the last chapter, but I think that I did a good job. Did you like that I brought Miles back, or was he just dead weight? And am I making the plot twist too easy to predict or is it just right? Please tell me otherwise I might not get any sleep. Here's hoping you enjoyed it! Please review, as I love reading your little notes to me :)**


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